Taking your Pinterest, Etsy, and Instructable ideas and giving you the low down on the cost, the time, and the skills it takes to make these at home!

Monday, February 10, 2014

Coconut Oil Valentine's Day Gifts

Ok, why hasn't anyone told me the awesomeness of coconut oil yet? Seriously, this stuff is so versatile... cooking and baking, beauty, ointments... someone put together a list of 101 uses and I just tried two tonight. Guys - if you need an easy, cheap, homemade Valentine's Day gift for your lady friend, go to your kitchen and get these four things to make a body/shave scrub and a facial scrub:

1. Coconut oil
2. Sugar
3. Baking soda
4. 2 empty jars

Don't know where to get coconut oil? I know for a fact that Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Vons has some. So you have no excuse. Sorry.

Ok, so in one jar, mix equal parts coconut oil and baking soda (for facial scrub). In the other jar, mix equal parts coconut oil and sugar (for the body/shave scrub). Then combine.

Notice how it all pretty much looks the same? You'll want to make sure you know which jar is which, as the sugar is going to feel better on the legs than baking soda (since it's a natural exfoliant). If you happen to have any lavender or peppermint extract, or a couple drops of red food coloring, that would be a nice added bonus, but certainly not necessarily. Make some labels by hand or print some out, give to your sweetie, and be silently pleased with yourself when she gives you a big smackeroo.

Now, does the body/shave scrub actually work? Well, I shaved one leg with it and one without and the leg that had the scrub felt a lot smoother. Now, this could just be a psychological, but hey, it's cheaper than any shaving gel on the shelves!

TOTAL COSTS: About $14 to make as much as you want!

$10 for coconut oil

$2.69 for sugar
$1.59 for baking soda

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Less than 5 minutes

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5

Seriously, it's three ingredients to make two awesome scrubs. Doesn't get much easier than that!